Baxter lays off 250, shuts plants

Sweden, Florida facilities made dialysis filters

November 27, 2001|By Bruce Japsen, Tribune staff reporter.

Baxter International Inc. said Monday it will lay off roughly 250 workers and close two plants at which the company made dialysis filters that are under investigation in dozens of deaths around the world.

The Deerfield-based medical products giant's decision to close facilities in Ronneby, Sweden, and Miami Lakes, Fla., comes weeks after the company said a fluid used to test some of its filters may have played a role in many of the 53 reported deaths in seven countries, including the United States.

Baxter decided earlier this month to discontinue the series A, AF and AX filters, which are made at the Ronneby facility. Fibers used in the filters, which are known as dialyzers, were made at the Miami Lakes plant.

"We have been extensively evaluating all of our options for the plants and we came to the conclusion that the only feasible decision at this point is a full closure of both facilities," Baxter said in a statement. "However, we haven't ruled out the possibility that the plants could be used in some other capacity in the future."

The costs to close the plants are figured into a previously announced fourth-quarter charge of between $100 million and $150 million, which Baxter said it would take for discontinuing the filters, along with expected litigation and other associated costs.

The dialyzers in question accounted for 20 percent of Baxter's dialysis filter portfolio and less than $20 million of the company's $7 billion in annual sales. Baxter bought the Ronneby facility as part of its acquisition last year of Althin Medical AB of Sweden.

The plant closures affect 158 workers in Ronneby and 98 in Miami Lakes, although Baxter said some workers at each facility will stay on to assist with investigations into the filters.

Several countries' health agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are investigating deaths linked to Baxter filters in Germany, Croatia, Italy, Colombia, Taiwan and two U.S. states, Texas and Nebraska.

Last week, Spain's health minister said the country will seek between $250 million and $280 million to compensate for the deaths of 11 Spanish kidney patients who used the company's dialysis filters.

A Spanish Health Ministry study earlier this month is said to have found a clear link between the deaths in Spain and the use of Baxter's dialyzers.